JBM C.S.S.B. 1809 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS NATURAL RESOURCES C.S.S.B. 1809 By: Barrientos (Keel, Terry) 4-30-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Currently, municipal utility districts (MUDs) are not specifically granted the power to enter into agreements with municipalities which require payments by the district to the municipalities for purposes beyond the scope of district activities contemplated in a consent agreement creating an individual district. The Wells Branch Municipal Utility District ("the district") was created through the consent agreement process. This bill will authorize the district to enter into a contract with a municipality, requiring payments to the municipality, for mutually agreeable purposes. PURPOSE To authorize the district to enter into a contract with a municipality, requiring payments to the municipality, for mutually agreeable purposes. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Defines "District" to mean Wells Branch Municipal Utility District ("the district") located in Travis and Williamson Counties, Texas. SECTION 2. Provides that the purpose of this Act is to meet the special needs of the district. SECTION 3. Provides that the legislature finds that there exists a public necessity to amend the law governing the district, and that this Act will further the conservation and development of the natural resources of the state within the district. SECTION 4. (a) Provides that the district and a municipality are authorized to enter into a contract for the district to make payments to the municipality for a purpose that the governing body of the district determines will further regional cooperation between the district and the municipality and may include terms and considerations that the district and the municipality find are reasonable and appropriate. (b)Provides that a contract entered into under this section: (1) may be for a term that is mutually agreeable to the parties; (2) may be renewed or extended; (3) may provide that the district will remain in existence and be exempt from annexation by the municipality for the term of the contract; and (4) is binding upon all subsequent governing bodies of the district and the municipality for the terms of the contract. (c)Provides that the district may make annual appropriations from its operations and maintenance tax or other revenue available to the district to make payments to a municipality under a contract entered into under this section. (d)Provides that a municipality may not annex the district until after December 31, 2014. SECTION 5.(a) Sets out that proper legal notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published as provided by law and the notice a copy of the Act have been furnished to all parties as provided by law, including the governor, who has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission ("TNRCC"). (b)Provides that the TNRCC has filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house within the required time. (c)Sets out that all requirements of the constitution and laws of this state with respect to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled and accomplished. SECTION 6. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE CAPTION: The caption of the original refers to the administration, powers, duties, operation, and financing of the district, while the caption of the substitute refers to operation of the district and to the powers of the district and a municipality to enter into certain contracts. SECTION 1. No substantive changes. SECTION 2. No substantive changes. SECTION 3. No substantive changes. SECTION 4. In the original, this section is entitled "Authority of Wells Branch Municipal Utility District," and, in the substitute, this section is entitled "Contracts Between the Wells Branch Municipal Utility District and a Municipality." In the original, this section amends Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Local Government Code, by adding a new Section 42.049, while the substitute only proposes special law provisions. Although Section 4 was reorganized in the substitute, the only other substantive difference between the two versions is that Section 4(d), providing that a municipality may not annex the district until after December 31, 2014, was added in the substitute and was not in the original measure. SECTION 5. Section 5 of the substitute, which sets out findings related to procedural requirements, was not in the original measure. Section 5 of the original was an emergency clause. SECTION 6. Section 6 of the substitute is the emergency clause. There was no Section 6 in the original measure. In the original, the emergency clause was in Section 5.